PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sports Network)- New Hampshire outscored Maine, 59-47,
to maintain the No. 1 position in this week's Sports Network I-AA top 25
poll. The Wildcats earned the top seed in the 2005 I-AA playoffs with a
10-1 record and claimed the Atlantic 10 automatic berth with a 7-1
conference mark. New Hampshire is at No. 1 in the rankings for the third
week in a row and the fifth time overall. Sean McDonnell's club earned 45
of a possible 78 first-place votes and 1,916 total points in this week's
balloting. New Hampshire faces No. 24 Colgate in the first round of the
playoffs.

Hampton completed its undefeated season by rolling Savannah State, 44-6.
The Pirates finish the regular season at 11-0 and stay at No. 2 in the
polls, while the earning the third seed in the playoffs. Furman is up one
spot to No. 3 in the rankings, with Texas State at No. 4 and Appalachian
State at No. 5. Texas State is the fourth seed in the playoffs, while
Appalachian State garnered the No. 2 seed.

Georgia Southern is up two spots to No. 6., with Northern Iowa at No. 7,
Southern Illinois at No. 8, Montana at No. 9 and Cal Poly at No. 10.
Montana dropped six spots in the rankings after a 16-6 loss to rival
Montana State.

Grambling State jumps three spots to No. 11, with Richmond making a
five-spot leap to No. 12. Youngstown State is No. 13, with South Carolina
State at No. 14 and Eastern Washington at No. 15.

Brown took the outright Ivy League championship and comes in at No. 16.
Montana State is No. 17, with Massachusetts at No. 18, Eastern Illinois at
No. 19 and Coastal Carolina at No. 20.

Nicholls State is at No. 21, followed by Lehigh, Illinois State, Colgate
and Lafayette. Colgate and Lafayette enter the rankings this week after
earning playoff berths, while North Dakota State and Western Kentucky fell
out of the top 25.

16 teams in the top 25 advance to the I-AA playoffs beginning this weekend.
The final poll of the season will be on December 19, after the championship
game in Chattanooga on Dec. 16.

Below is a list of the playoff games on tap this week. Also this week, No.
11 Grambling State plays Southern in the "Bayou Classic" at Houston's
Reliant Stadium.